UNCOMFORTABLE MIRRORS: RELIGION AND MIMETIC VIOLENCE IN CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN NATIVE LITERATURE by Ken Derry A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of the Centre for the Study of Religion University of Toronto © Copyright by Ken Derry, 2009 ABSTRACT “Uncomfortable Mirrors: Religion and Mimetic Violence in Contemporary Canadian Native Literature” Ph.D. Thesis, 2009 Ken Derry Centre for the Study of Religion University of Toronto This study considers religion and mimetic violence in the work of four contemporary Canadian Native writers: Maria Campbell, Beatrice Culleton, Thomas King, and Basil Johnston. The mimetic violence examined is both social (the colonial attempt to remake the colonized into a reflection of the dominant culture) and personal (inter-Native conflict in which participants mirror one another in their struggle for a mutually covetted object). In order to investigate the former, I rely on the work of Homi K. Bhabha on colonial mimicry and hybridity; to examine the latter, I employ René Girard’s model of mimetic desire and violence. The principal academic contexts to this work are the study of Native literature and the academic study of religion, including the sub-field of Religion and Literature. After reviewing the relevant literature in these fields, and examining mimetic violence in key texts by the Native authors listed, I make several concluding points. First, I argue that a causal link between colonial violence and inter-Native mimetic violence is evident in the category of Native literature labelled by Thomas King as “polemical.” This includes Campbell’s Halfbreed, Culleton’s In Search of April Raintree, and King’s own Green Grass, Running Water. Second, I find that Johnston’s Moose Meat & Wild Rice and Indian School Days generally take care to separate colonial mimesis from Native mimetic conflict. This work fits King’s “associational” category of ii Native literature, and the disconnect evident in Johnston’s stories between the two forms of mimesis might stand as a defining feature of this category. Third, I assert that in none of the Native literature examined is religion viewed in a positive, idealist manner that assumes in its “true” manifestation it cannot be the cause of violence, which is the position taken by most religion scholars. I argue that the emphasis the Native texts place on the historic, material actions and effects of Christian individuals and institutions complements similar work being done by a minority of academics in the study of religion. Fourth, I propose possible avenues for the further investigation of mimesis in Native literature, which would use/focus on: metaphor-centred hermeneutical models; trickster figures and theories; and the conception of both Native and colonial identity. Finally, I argue that critics of Native literature have tended to idealize Native cultures, and that inter-Native mimetic violence offers a humanizing corrective to this perspective. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although there are so many people I need to thank, it is easy to know where to start. This dissertation literally begins and ends with Kelly Jay. She was with me on my first day of graduate school and my last. There is not a word or a thought in this project that has not been considered and approved by Kelly, and I cannot imagine its existence without her. To repay her love, support, and heroic patience, there are not enough Hakka pakoras in the world. My parents Carol and Bob, and my brother Mark, have given me so much love and encouragement that I have often felt that I could do anything. Of my other relations, Diane Howe, Muriel Hill, and my grandmother, Violet Hendy, were especially caring, helpful, and engaged. My persistence and final success in completing my Ph.D. is due in very large part to the wonderful family I have been so lucky to have. And then there is my second family, Agnes, Ron, and Tracy Jay. They have taken me in as if I were one of their own. I can no longer imagine a time when I was not part of their lives, and I suspect they cannot imagine a time when this thesis was not a part of theirs. I thank them for the smottebollen and the Harvard, for plays at the Lighthouse and parades at Harvest Fest, and—most of all—for Lake Erie perch. I have been blessed with an almost unbroken stream of extraordinary teachers. Of these, the following stand out: Bruce Dowdell, Lawrence Stern, Caesar Blake, Tony Liman, Neil McMullin, Peter Richardson, and Ted Chamberlin. In addition, Chelva Kanaganayakam and Jamie Scott remained constant in their provision of invaluable guidance and supervision over the many (many!) years of this thesis, while Daniel Heath iv Justice and Warren Cariou offered insightful, constructive, and friendly criticism of the work’s final draft. Last, and most, are Mike Lavelle and Michel Desjardins. Without them I would never have started (or finished) this journey. They have always, always been inspiring and critical, wise and human, everything we hope teachers will be and everything that most of us hope to become. The faculty and staff at the Centre for the Study of Religion have been a frequent, welcoming source of collegial support. For all their efforts I thank Marilyn Colaço, Cynthia Gauthier, Joe Goering, Fereshteh Hashemi, John Kloppenborg, Lesley Lewis, Jane McAuliffe, Thomas McIntyre, and Don Wiebe. In addition, one of the few advantages of taking a really, really long time to finish a dissertation is the opportunity to enjoy the wisdom and wit of a much larger community of fellow students than might otherwise be the case. In particular, I have at various times derived great benefit from the company of Bill Arnal, Stephan Dobson, Keith Haartman, Chris Helland, Darlene Juschka, Tom MacKay, Ruth Mas, Arthur McCalla, Ken McKendrick, Michele Murray, Michael Ostling, David Perley, and Dana Sawchuk. Most of all, however, I am deeply, fundamentally indebted to Laurence Broadhurst, Amir Hussain, and Tony Michael, for their humour, their brilliance, their creative insults, and for their friendship. Of course over the years there have been many other (non-academic) friends upon whom I have depended, and for whom I have cared. Thank you especially Geoff Bell, Ross Cameron, Sean Graney, John Rabin, and Brian Reid. Thank you also to the dozens of my friends, students, and colleagues at the University of Toronto, particularly at the OFR, ASSU, Woodsworth College, Friday Night Poker, and the Bedford Academy Discussion Group. Your continued and often vocal endorsement of my graduate v endeavours has meant a very great deal to me. Finally, of course, there were the cats. Providing affection and weirdness day and night, rain or shine, thesis or no thesis, were Fred and Wisk; Pixel, Spats, and Mimolette; and above all Felix. Good work, guys. From 1993 to 1997, the University of Toronto, the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada provided financial assistance that supported research for the work at hand. As well, portions of this dissertation have previously appeared elsewhere: in my chapter on “Thomas King’s Fluid Boundaries,” from ‘Survivance’ Beyond Canons: Mapping Canadian First Nations Literatures; and in my article, “Religion and (Mimetic) Violence in Canadian Native Literature" (Literature and Theology 16.2: 201-219). Permission to reprint those materials here was graciously provided by Emerald Publishers, Prof. S. Armstrong, and Oxford University Press. Thomas King has suggested that it is good to begin stories with an apology, in case anyone’s feelings are hurt in the telling. He also asserts, repeatedly, the importance of minding one’s relations. So to everyone for what follows: I am sorry. And to my wife, family, friends, colleagues, students, teachers, and cats: once again, thank you all so very much. vi We are the keepers of time. We must know the places of invasion in our histories and in ourselves so that we may illumine the paths of those who cannot see or who do not know. Because our pain is a “part of this land,” we are also the Uncomfortable Mirrors to Canadian society. And few can look at the glaring reflections our mirrors provide. - Emma LaRocque vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE: BACKGROUND Chapter One: Introduction ...............................................................................................1 1.1 Stories ....................................................................................................1 1.1.1 Fort Albany, First Nation ..........................................................1 1.1.2 Two Moose, Four Writers..........................................................5 1.2 Terms and Conditions..........................................................................13 1.2.1 Religion and Violence..............................................................13 1.2.2 Victims and Executioners.........................................................23 1.2.3 Hermeneutics ...........................................................................29 1.3 Thesis Overview ..................................................................................33 PART TWO: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS Chapter Two: Native Literature.....................................................................................37 2.1 Appropriation and Marginality ............................................................37 2.1.1 Critical Territory .....................................................................37